The NetZeroAICT Consortium, led by Swedish Collective Minds Radiology and the University of Oxford, secured a substantial €6 million grant from the European Union Horizon Europe, in collaboration with UK Research and Innovation. They want to develop and approve a new technology called CT Digital Contrast TM. This special tech, made by Professor Regent Lee’s team at Oxford, aims to make CT scans better for the environment by using smart software. CT scans contribute about 1% to global greenhouse emissions, so they want to fix that. With this money, the team plans to speed up their research, get the go-ahead for CT Digital Contrast, and create a sustainable way to use this kind of tech. They also want to make a plan that uses eco-friendly computer systems and check how using CT Digital Contrast TM affects society and the environment.
The NetZeroAICT project, backed by funding from Horizon Europe and UK Research Innovation, aims to revolutionize CT imaging’s environmental impact. Led by Collective Minds Radiology and the University of Oxford, the project seeks to develop and deploy CT Digital Contrast, an advanced AI solution eliminating the use of harmful iodinated radiocontrast media in CT scans. This technology digitally creates contrast, avoiding patient risks and reducing pharmaceutical waste. By involving 20 partners from various sectors across Europe, the project intends to establish an eco-friendly framework for AI medical devices, aligning with the European Green Deal’s objectives. The ultimate goal is to transform radiology services for improved patient health while fostering environmental sustainability for future generations.
This International Transdisciplinary Consortium is led by Prof Regent Lee at Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences. He is a UK Research Innovation Future Leaders Fellow and Associate Professor of Vascular Surgery. The Oxford team further includes Prof Vicente Grau, Professor of Engineering Science at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Their team developed the pioneering technology (CT Digital Contrast TM) which can make Computerised Tomography (CT) scans safer, faster, more equitable and more sustainable.
According to Professor Lee: “The combined NetZeroAICT Consortium expertise will enable us to develop and deploy trustworthy ‘green’ AI software as medical device with the ultimate goal to reduce the environmental footprint from CT imaging. European patients will have access to safer, faster, equitable and sustainable healthcare delivery while the healthcare systems strengthen their alignment with the European Green Deal. This is a new era of translational research. In addition to improving patients’ health, our aspiration is to improve planetary health for future generations.”
In addition to manufacturing AI Software as Medical Devices (AISaMD) that can minimise the climate and environmental impact of clinical imaging (which accounts for ~1% of global greenhouse emissions), the Consortium will develop a reference framework for delivering AISaMDs using a ‘green’ and sustainable pipeline by incorporating green computational architectures and comprehensively examine the social/life cycle impacts of implementing CT Digital Contrast TM.
Professor Paul Shearing, ZERO Institute Director, University of Oxford, said: “Decarbonising society to achieve Net Zero requires scrutiny of all areas of our lives, including healthcare, where emissions may be ‘hiding in plain sight’. The NetZeroAICT consortium have catalogued the carbon intensity of medical imaging and are proposing exciting solutions to reducing the environmental impact of this critical area of medicine. We are excited to see the progress of the consortium, and to identify opportunities for replicating this proactive approach to decarbonisation across the healthcare sector.”
Professor Sam Fankhauser of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and Director of Research for Oxford Net Zero, added: “There is no silver bullet to achieving net zero – each sector must simply take a long, hard look at itself and start the hard work of cutting emissions. It is inspiring to see the NetZeroAICT Consortium starting this process for CT scans and ultimately more sustainable healthcare and speaks to the commitment to addressing climate change across the University of Oxford.”
Project Coordinator, Anders Nordell from Collective Minds Radiology, further emphasised, “There is almost unlimited expertise and data in healthcare. The problem is that it is locked into silos. To advance care, more collaboration is needed. The NetZeroAICT project will break these barriers and set a new standard with the ‘cleanest’ data for AI research in CT imaging. We have developed privacy-preserving technology and international legal frameworks which enables international health data sharing, highly secure and compliant with privacy regulations, such as GDPR.”
A key ambition for the Consortium is to establish it trustworthiness among the stakeholders involved in all sectors. There will be a strong focus on impactful patient public involvement and engagement to refine the Consortium activities.
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